“We can’t exactly know, but we see that Jesus wanted to have a personal interaction with this guy. He brings him away from the crowd in private, though the disciples and the man’s friends were still there. And let’s think about it this way: Jesus can’t verbally ask the man if he wants to be healed. The man can’t verbally communicate whether he has faith or not. If the man was illiterate, they couldn’t write him a message, like we see happen with Zechariah in Luke 1.
Now here’s Jesus touching the man’s tongue. Putting His fingers in his ears. Would the man wrest his head away? Would he recoil? Or would he submit, invasive and awkward as it might be?
We don’t usually permit this kind of hands-on intrusion. We maintain personal space. But there are certain people who we allow to do things like this. Physicians, for one. A doctor can do whatever they need to do, especially if we’re talking about a surgeon or a necessary treatment. But also parents. When you were young, your father could help you get out that splinter, check for lice in your hair, get his hands in your mouth when you were losing a tooth.
Christ is meant to have total access to our hearts and lives. Like a father. Like a physician. Like the closest, must trusted person you’ve ever known. David understood this in his famous Psalm 139. Lord, search me and know me. Investigate and find out by means of personal exploration. Expose any weakness, any sickness, any dry rot or infection so that You can lead me in the everlasting way.”
